Southport Pleasureland could be UK's top resort

Southport Pleasureland owner Norman Wallis with a model of a rollercoaster he's looking to bring to Southport, along with a photo of his grandfather who operated the old water chute slide at the fairground in Southport last century. Photo by Graham Moreton of Tarleton Photography

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The owner of Southport’s biggest tourist attraction has laid out his vision for the resort and pledged that he is the man to make our town “the number one seaside destination in the country.”

Ahead of this weekend’s Easter opening, Norman Wallis revealed why he is so keen to invest in Southport and how it needs to rethink its image as England’s ‘Classic Resort’.

Proudly holding a picture of one of his great grandfathers who operated the water chutes at Southport’s fairground, Mr Wallis, who has now been at Pleasureland for eight years, said no one can question his commitment to Southport.

He said: “There are not many people who can say they have had such a long term involvement with the town’s tourism sector.

“My family have been helping to entertain this town for over 100 years and there are no companies in the town that can do as much as I can do in terms of creating, spending and marketing on getting people to come to Southport.”

Mr Wallis hopes the town and Sefton Council will back his vision and enthusiasm and allow him to breath new life into Southport’s waning appeal for a whole new generation.

He said: “My long term vision is for Southport to become the number one seaside destination in the country.

“We need to realise that Lord Street has changed and social behaviour has changed. In order to cater for that change, and the way the internet has changed habits, businesses also need to change. Lord Street seems to cater for the older clientèle and at any time you can look down there and the majority of people shopping are pensioners.

“If you go to Pleasureland, it’s families having fun. It’s vibrant and colourful. I love the idea of Southport being the ‘classic resort’ but classic doesn’t have to mean ‘Victorian’.

“Things need to evolve and move forward. Look at somewhere like Burnley which was once full of mills but never moved on and now it’s in a terrible state. Then you have places like Reading which had certain industries which went but they moved forward with other industries.”

Crucial to Mr Wallis’s plans for Southport is acknowledging that the resort was built to cater for tourists and should be proud of the fact.

“Southport was created for tourism,” he said. “There’s no getting around that. We have the infrastructure here which was laid out by the Victorians.

“Southport has a massive advantage over many places. It is flat and it’s in easy travelling distance of up to eight million. The successes of attractions in the US and across Europe stems from those early pioneering amusement parks like ours. This town has one of the originals and it’s steeped in history.”

Among his ideas is a better use of the lake and the recently renovated King’s Gardens, ideas which come from his many trips to resorts and amusement parks across the world.

“Wherever you go in the world, whether it’s American or European theme parks, they all build lakes in the centre with fountains.

“We need to use the lake more – that’s why it was built. But it needs to be exciting, have fountains so we can have displays every day and encourage people to stay longer and shop and eat and be entertained at night.

“This sort of thing is happening across the world but we’re not doing it in the UK. We need to think more than just having a space where people can walk their dog. It needs to be wonderful and not just tarmac and grass. On the islands in the lake there should be chalets where families can stay and do things. The lake should be about entertainment and watersports.”

As well as the attractions on offer, Mr Wallis feels Southport has fallen behind other towns with accommodation.

“There needs to be more family accommodation in and around Southport,” he said. “If anyone has more than two kids, you’re looking at booking another room because you can’t put your kids in the fridge or keep them in the car.

“On the east coast of the UK there are lots of caravan parks which are all family orientated, but we’re not giving people the facilities they need.”

While also suggesting he could build a landmark rollercoaster along the seafront, Mr Wallis confirmed Pleasureland will include a number of new rides and a “Frozen” tribute live on stage.

“In five years’ time I wouldn’t expect to see anything you can see here now,” he added.

“I just need Sefton Council to say ‘go for it’. I’ve proved we can make it viable and I know for a fact that people in Blackpool are looking at us and thinking ‘what is he doing now?’

“But I can blow Blackpool away and looking at other resorts, Scarborough is too hilly and Rhyl has gone.

“Southport has not lost it yet but it has to sort it out now. We have a window of opportunity here and if people haven’t got the foresight to see that and let me get on with it, the town will suffer.

“We’re too big to be quaint – we’ve got the opportunity to do something really special.”